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COMPANY NEWS; S.C.I. Is Selling Insurance Unit

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May 11, 1990, Page 00003 The New York Times Archives

The Service Corporation International, the world's largest funeral services company whose earnings have been hurt by a slowing mortality rate, said it would sell its insurance subsidiary to the Torchmark Corporation for $165 million.

The subsidiary, Family Service Life, provided insurance coverage for S.C.I.'s pre-arranged funeral plans, the company's chairman, Robert Waltrip, said at the company's annual meeting here.

The company last year sold off an unprofitable funeral supply business for $55 million in cash and $7.5 million in notes.

The proceeds from the sale of the insurance unit may be used to pay down debt, buy back stock or make acquisitions, the company's president, William Heiligbrodt, said.

Torchmark, which is based in Birmingham, Ala. and primarily involved in insurance, has been in the news with its surprise $6.4 billion bid for its much bigger rival, the American General Corporation.

After resisting Torchmark for more than a month, American General said last week that it was putting itself up for sale.

A version of this article appears in print on May 11, 1990, on Page D00003 of the National edition with the headline: COMPANY NEWS; S.C.I. Is Selling Insurance Unit. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe